Metal Anarchy

The Beatles’ 1970 film “Let It Be” will be receiving a Disney+ release on May 8. The documentary was restored from the original 16mm negative by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post Production and its audio was remastered with the same MAL de-mix technology used on the “Get Back” docuseries.

Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg commented:

“‘Let It Be’ was ready to go in October/November 1969, but it didn’t come out until April 1970. One month before its release, The Beatles officially broke up. And so the people went to see ‘Let It Be’ with sadness in their hearts, thinking, ‘I’ll never see The Beatles together again. I will never have that joy again,’ and it very much darkened the perception of the film. But in fact, there’s a great deal of joy and happiness and creation going on, and ‘Let It Be’ is — especially when you get to the roof, and you see the exchange and the way that they look at each other — essentially a happy and ‘up’ movie. I was knocked out by what Peter was able to do with ‘Get Back’, using all the footage I’d shot 50 years previously.”

Jackson added:

“I’m absolutely thrilled that Michael’s movie, ‘Let It Be’, has been restored and is finally being re-released after being unavailable for decades. I was so lucky to have access to Michael’s outtakes for ‘Get Back’, and I’ve always thought that ‘Let It Be’ is needed to complete the ‘Get Back’ story. Over three parts, we showed Michael and The Beatles filming a groundbreaking new documentary, and ‘Let It Be’ is that documentary — the movie they released in 1970. I now think of it all as one epic story, finally completed after five decades. The two projects support and enhance each other: ‘Let It Be’ is the climax of ‘Get Back’, while ‘Get Back’ provides a vital missing context for ‘Let It Be’. Michael Lindsay-Hogg was unfailingly helpful and gracious while I made ‘Get Back’, and it’s only right that his original movie has the last word…looking and sounding far better than it did in 1970.”